UNITED NATIONS, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, said Friday that the intractable problems facing humanity cannot be solved by any one nation acting unilaterally.
Addressing the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Gonsalves, the Caribbean region’s longest serving head of government, said the condition of today’s world is more complicated, more dangerous than ever, more uneven in its human development, more integrated, yet more disparate and desperate.
“At the same time, much progress and advancements have been made by humanity; and there is an enduring hopefulness amidst despair; a persistent sense in much of humanity that a better tomorrow is possible, even as catastrophes loom and dangers lurk.”
But he said that big-power rivalries, interlaced with personal vainglories and hubris, are gravely unsettling the world to the advantage of not one single nation-state.
“Civilized discourse, tempered with a patience and a calm, has given way to a bellicosity of language shouted across continents and oceans designed, presumably, to satisfy nativist longings in the breasts of those who think that, despite their good fortune, relatively, they have been grievously wronged by some dark and hidden forces.
“Can none of these persons pause and reflect upon the question posed and answered by all the world’s great religions, but in particular, through the words of the Hebrew Prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require of us? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.”
Gonsalves said that the intractable problems facing humanity cannot be solved by any one nation acting unilaterally.
He said that a mature multilateralism is required to address climate change in the age of the Anthropocene; to resolve the threats posed by nuclear weapons and their further spread; to pursue peaceful coexistence rather than conflict, terrorism, and war; to reform the system of financing for development, inclusive of just climate financing.
He said that multilateralism is needed to tackle the growing challenges of Artificial Intelligence successfully; to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, guided by the Global Digital Compact and the Pact for the Future; and to reshape global governance more inclusively.
“It is thus of the highest importance for this august body, the United Nations, and the overwhelming majority of nation-states within it, to continue our efforts to persuade the powerful to act equitably, honourably, and multilaterally to tackle efficaciously the extant and looming challenges facing the global community.
“Oftentimes, it is frustrating and disheartening to those of us who are committed to this necessary and desirable path of mature multilateralism because our herculean efforts seemingly deliver, correspondingly, negligible results.
“Nevertheless, we cannot give up; we cannot afford to get weary; we have no choice but to persist in this ever-more urgent multilateral solidarity and cooperation as we pursue the political and economic spaces to make this world a better place for all humanity.”
Gonsalves said that St. Vincent and the Grenadines, like all countries globally, have been shaped by its history, geography, nature, neighbors, existing circumstances, and dreams for a better future.
“For example, we carry the benefits and the burdens of our geographic location, near to the greatest economic, military, scientific, and culturally-dominant power the world has ever seen. “St. Vincent and the Grenadines is where it is; it cannot be lifted and taken to Vladivostok or the mouth of the Amur River. Yet, as a free and independent people, we have the right to pursue peacefully and securely our quest for shared prosperity without domination, interference, or intervention from any of our neighbours or from any power that comes from afar.”
Gonsalves said that currently his government and population have another challenge from the “nefarious activities of the agents of a rising, or risen, hegemon from another hemisphere, and from some greedy, unprincipled non-state operators in Europe, acting in concert, seeking to pollute, and interfere in, our democracy, our free and fair elections which are scheduled to be held later this year”.
He said that their conduct is “unacceptable and hugely injurious to our people”.
Gonsalves said that the raging genocide and neo-colonial oppression being committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank before the eyes of the world are continuing affronts to the elemental human rights of the Palestinians, to civilised conduct, and to international law.
“How can one state, a member of this august body, act with such impunity against defenseless men, women, and children? Surely, the hottest part of hell is reserved for these perpetrators of genocide and those who are complicit in it!
“Over 200 years ago, the British committed large-scale genocide against the indigenous people of my country, the Callinago and the Garifuna, and we are still enduring the historical legacies of underdevelopment therefrom; similarly, the genocidal enslavement of African bodies in our Caribbean, in our hemisphere.”
Gonsalves predicted that it would take centuries for the pain, suffering, and legacies of the current genocide of the Palestinians to be repaired.
“We in the Caribbean are today demanding, justly, reparations for native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies, which occurred centuries ago. This tragedy, this madness, that has been unfolding, unabated, in Palestine must stop.”
Gonsalves said that Israel’s recent illegal expansion of the war against the Palestinian nation into the State of Qatar is unacceptable.
“Similarly, it is long overdue for the fractured relationship between the United States of America and Cuba to be made whole in mutual respect, in accordance with international law, and consistent with the interests of both neighbours for peace, security, and shared prosperity.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines implores the great American nation to listen and act upon the near-unanimous advice of this General Assembly which has repeatedly called for an end to the oppressive, unlawful embargo against Cuba” Gonsalves said, as he also made a plea for Taiwan to be accepted as a member of the global organization despite China’s opposition to the country it regards as a renegade province.
Gonsalves said the recent ramping-up of tensions between the United States and Venezuela is most “unhelpful to peace and stability in our Caribbean and Latin America.
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines calls for the sealing back of actions and rhetoric which are inimical to cordial, neighbouring relations; in particular, we find the foreign militarisation of the waters around Venezuela exceedingly troubling.
“Repeatedly, the countries of the Caribbean and Latin America have unanimously declared our area a Zone of Peace; we urge our American friends to abide by this declaration. By all means, let us all cooperate in combating drug trafficking and allied transnational criminal activities, but a unilateral militarisation is decidedly not the way to do it,” Gonsalves added.
He said in Haiti, matters political, economic, and social continue to deteriorate with gang violence continuing unabated, and a “veritable Hobbesian state of nature exists in which life is nasty, brutish, and short.
“Haiti’s political and economic elites have been found wanting; but it is true, too, that the international community with the means to assist has not as yet summoned up the will to do so disinterestedly, though in accord with the Haitian people’s deepest longings for peace, security, and an everyday civilized life and living.
“The UN Security Council, with CARICOM’s full support, is seized of this matter but an insufficiency of resources and will have attended to it,” Gonsalves added.
Regarding climate change, which he described as “urgent and existential,” Gnsaves said that the science is precise, but powerful, and more influential countries are ‘reneging on their earlier commitments.
He recalled the 2024 category four hurricane Beryl, which devastated his country, resulting in loss and damage equivalent to one-third of its gross domestic product (GDP).
Detailing reconstruction efforts with some regional and international partners, he called for greater support. Concluding with messages to “dominant metropoles of the West and the East”, he said the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are “not appendages to any other nation”, and that small states play an essential role in global affairs.
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